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Psychology of Religion: An Overview of its History and Current Status
Author(s) -
Main Roderick
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
religion compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.113
H-Index - 1
ISSN - 1749-8171
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-8171.2008.00089.x
Subject(s) - psychology of religion , psychology , mainstream , reciprocal , asian psychology , epistemology , variety (cybernetics) , field (mathematics) , relation (database) , theoretical psychology , social psychology , cognitive psychology , philosophy , linguistics , theology , mathematics , database , artificial intelligence , computer science , pure mathematics
The psychology of religion is a complex field involving a variety of approaches that have not always developed in clear relationship to one another. As an aid to orientation, this article aims to provide an overview of the history and current status of the psychology of religion. It discusses the early contexts and origins of psychology of religion; depth psychological approaches to religion, especially those of Freud and Jung; empirical approaches stemming from mainstream scientific psychology; and some ways in which religion and psychology have stood in a more reciprocal relationship to each other. Common issues addressed by the article in relation to these diverse approaches include methodology; the content of religion; the origin, development, and effects of religion; and evaluations – both the theories’ evaluations of religion and scholarly evaluations of the theories.